Railroad-rail joint.



No. 728,196. PATENTED MAY 19, 1903. W. M. BREWER & G. A. ARCHER.

RAILROAD RAIL JOINT.

APPLIOATTDN FILED MAY 19, 1902.

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RAILROAD RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1902.

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w Via/Cher Q/vi hmooea 61 Hanna 0 UNITED STATES Patented May 19, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE.

WILLIAM M. BREWER AND CHARLES A. ARCHER, OF WARREN, OHIO.

RAILROAD-RAILJOINT.

$PECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 728,196, dated May 19,1903.

Application filed May 19, 1902. Serial No 107,981. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7 V

Be it known that we, WILLIAM M. BREWER and CHARLES A. ARCHER, citizensof the United States, residing at Warren, inthe county of Trumbull andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-Rail Joints; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and ex-' act description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The invention relates to railroad-rail joints.

The object of the invention is to provide a joint of this character bythe employment of which is obviated the use of bolts, nuts, washers, andfish plates; furthermore,- to

provide a joint of this character which shall be simple-of construction,durable in use, comparatively inexpensive of production,and which willprevent the creeping of rails, as well as their spreading, and alsoprevent them turning axially, especially at curves, where theaxial-turning tendency is encountered, and, furthermore, to provide ajoint of this characterwhich will freely allow of the expansion andcontraction of the rails.

With these and other objects in view,which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, said invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combination and arrangementof parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, defined in theappended claim, and

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in V whichr l Figure 1 is aperspective view of our improved railroad-rail joint, showing theabutting ends of two rails in position. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional Viewthrough one of the rails and twosections of the joint on the line oftheir hinged connection. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of one end of the rail, showing the elongated opening therein.

In the drawings, 1 denotes the abutting ends of two railroad-rails, eachof which may, if desired, be provided with elongated openings 2.

3 and 4 denote the sections constituting the rail-joint. Each sectionhas its inner face shaped to fit the web of the rail on one side and theupper surface of the base of the rail,

and one of these sections-section 3, for instanc'eis provided'with ahorizontally-extending plate 5, upon which the base of the rail isseated. The sections 3 and ime preferably separably connectedtogether-as, for instance, by providing the base-plate of the section 3with a strengthening enlargement 6, formed with apertures 7, which areongaged by books 8, extending downwardly from the inner edge ofthesection 4., thus hingedly connecting the sections 3 and 4- suchconnection of the sections 3 and 4 taking place on "a longitudinal linea distance from the longitudinal central line of the base of the railand' preferably at one edge of the base, but under the same, wherebywhen the sections are'in' place about the ends of the rails pressureexerted upon said rails'by the passage of the wheels of a trainthereover brace the ends of the rails, and by connecting the sections 3and 4. 'at a point removed from the central longitudinal line of therail additional leverage is secured, and thereby the tendency of therail to turn"axiallyas, for instance, at curvesis reduced to a minimumand perhaps entirely avoided. Each section of the joint is provided withlaterallyprojecting flanges, which may be of any suitable shape and ofany suitable length to engage one tie or to span over the space betweentwo ties and engage both ties. The

drawings in the present instance show the device constructed to engagetwo ties and to be held in place by'the usual spikes. Each section ofthe joint may also be provided on its outer face with one or morestrengthening-ribs 9, and in order to prevent creeping of the rails,

which might result upon roads having two tracks, whereall trains runningin one direction will run upon one track and all trains running in theopposite direction will run upon the other, we provide the rail-jointsections with laterallyprojectin g studs 10,which project into theapertures 2 of the rails, the apertures being of sufficient size orelongation to permit of a free limited endwise movement of the railslongitudinally to compensate for expansion and contraction.

It will thus be seen that by prod ucing a longitudinal divisiblerail-joint the parts may be quickly assembled, and when assembled thewill cause the sections3 and 4 to tightly emweight to which the rail issubjected in the passing of a train will be employed or utilized to morefirmly clamp the sections of the joint to the rail, while at the veryinstant the train passes the joint the sections of the joint will berelieved of pressure and will not so tightly bind or engage the rail,and therefore will not interfere with its expansion or contraction, but,as above stated, will at the time or period the train is passing overthe joint securely clamp the rail and prevent the ends of the railsinking and moving or shifting endwise. Furthermore, by providinginterlocking connections in the form of hooks and apertures so arrangedas to adapt the joint-sections to be connected and disconnected by themovement of one section in an arcuate path at an angle to the base ofthe other section the use of extraneous fastenings for hingedlyconnecting the sections is obviated, the sections adapted to be moreconveniently connected and disconnected than if they were united by asliding engagement, and such connections, in addition to hingedly orpivotally connecting the sections to adapt them to exert the clampingaction on the rails before referred to, themselves act to hold thesections against both lateral and longitudinal movement upon oneanother, thereby reducing to a material extent the strain upon thefastening-spikes. Again, the hooks are not so liable to bind from rustor chip or break as sliding tongues or projections, and hence enable oldrails to be more expeditiously removed for substitution of new rails andat the same time obviate the loss of material to be experienced whenslidablyconnectible joints are used by the breakage of the interlockingconnections in transit.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction, mode ofoperation, and advantages of our improved railroad-rail joint will bereadily apparent without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction maybe resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- A longitudinally-chvisible rail-jointcomprising two members each adapted to embrace the upper surface of thebase of the rail and the Web of the rail, one of said members beingprovided with a laterally-projecting supporting-plate to receive andsupport the base of the rail, said supporting-plate having apertures,and the other having hooks engaging said apertures, forming a hingeconnection whose parts are adapted to be united by an arcuate swing ofone section upon the other section, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM M. BREWER. O. A. ARCHER. lVitnesses:

W. B. SWAGER, E. O. DILLEY.

